AFIPS

To chair the National Computer Conference is a rare opportunity to contribute to one's profession. I could never have passed it by. As is common with opportunities, however, this one has not been without its challenges. Those challenges have been well met by the 1977 NCC Steering Committee. The recruitment of that team of professionals has been by far my greatest contribution to the 1977 National Computer Conference. Their dedication and enthusiasm for the enormous task we faced surpassed even my expectations.

The National Computer Conference is unique in our industry---not just because it is our largest conference---but because it does not restrict itself to a narrow view of the industry; each year, it bends and reaches to point to new and different directions. One of the most important challenges of each steering committee, I believe, is to determine the directions of reach for the NCC in a particular year, while retaining the broad base of the conference.

Thus each NCC is unique, bearing the imprint of the particular group of people that brought it to fruition. The 1977 NCC is no exception. While reinforcing the NCC tradition of providing a broad technical program, the 1977 NCC has added its own innovations. Among the unique features of this conference are the program of Professional Seminars, the Programming Contest, and the Personal Computing Fair and Exposition.